Lessons Learned Using a Demonstration in a Large Classroom of Pharmacy Students

Objective. To create a demonstration that would enhance student understanding of the following acid/base concepts: the opposing effects of a weak acid and its conjugate base, the acidifying effects of carbon dioxide on blood pH, and the resistance of a buffered solution to changes in pH. Methods. The demonstrations were delivered to four different years of first-year pharmacy (P1) students in three different ways: as live in-class demonstrations, as a series of three short videos posted online, and as a series of three short videos used both in class and posted online. Quizzes were administered to each set of students and qualitative feedback solicited. Comparisons were made between the four classes that received the demonstrations and with two previous classes that had not received the demonstrations but had been given the same quiz questions. Results. Student feedback indicated difficulty seeing and understanding the live demonstrations, and the demonstration videos were not widely used when they were posted online. However, students provided positive feedback on demonstration videos when they were used in class in addition to being posted online. Using videos, performance increased on quiz items related to the learning objectives of the demonstrations, returning to levels seen in years prior to the decline in student performance. Conclusion. When delivered appropriately, a series of pH demonstrations appeared to improve student assessment performance.